Category: book clubs

California Reading

The Voyage Out Book Group reads regional fiction. We focus on a certain locale for three months, and then we pack our bags and move on. I’ve always been excited to start the next region. From the American South, to Japan, to Africa, and many more, we’ve had a great trip, so far. But I have to say, I was a little weary of our newest region, California. With the exception of In &Out Burgers and burritos, I’m not a big fan of the left coast. I don’t want to read about San Francisco Beatniks, and I don’t care about surfing. What do you read about a culture that is paper thin and incredibly young? But then we chose our three books: “Play It As It Lays” by Joan Didion, “The People of Paper” by Salvador Plascencia, and “Ask the Dust” by John Fante.

The Hard Word reads TRUE GRIT

True Grit is one of those books I've been meaning to read for years. Authors I love, like George Pelecanos, have sung its praises and my fellow employees have raved about it. I grew up on the John Wayne movie and would hear the famed line, "Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!" almost every Saturday night at whatever Missouri bar I was in. Even when my manager loaned me his copy, I let it sit on my table for over a year and a half.

Get psyched for EYE MIND

This Book Could Be Your Life is our monthly music book club. They read all sorts of great bios, spanning almost every genre, city and decade you can think of. This month they're reading EYE MIND by Paul Drummond, an in-depth account of the chemically-altered life and times of Texas' first psychedelic rock band the 13th Floor Elevators.

Statesman Editor to host our new Graphic Novel Book Club

Joe Gross, the recently hired books, music, and culture editor of the Austin American-Statesman has a plan. In addition to hosting upcoming events here at BookPeople, and covering a few choice ones for the paper, he'll be leading our brand new graphic novel book club. Joe has deemed the group 'The Statesman Words and Pictures Book Club' based on a quote from legendary curmudgeon Harvey Pekar who quipped, " Comics are words and pictures, you can do anything with words and pictures."

I Like Book Snobs

Book snobs are out there, and at Bookpeople we have more than our share (both customers and employees). I don’t mind them; I even like them. This odd group spends a lot of time trying to find “important” books, and I like those types of books. So book snobs save me a little time. Get a snob started on the New Yorker, Dalkey Press, James Wood, or any number of things and you’re sure to come away with a new, challenging, and obscure novel that you would have overlooked. I can handle pretension, as long as I learn something.

The Voyage Out – BookPeople’s New Book Club

One way BookPeople wants to be involved in the community is through hosting our [world famous?] book clubs; we want to connect people people from diverse backgrounds through our shared love of literature.  If you haven't looked at the display of our various book clubs in the fiction section of the store, I'd encourage you … Continue reading The Voyage Out – BookPeople’s New Book Club →